WASHINGTON – Moderator Chris Wallace spent most of his time at Tuesday’s first presidential debate acting as a referee, scolding President Donald Trump for repeated interruptions and digressions. Trump said former Vice President Joe Biden should be scolded too, but Wallace didn’t shy away from his original statement.
“Frankly, you are doing more interrupting than he is,” Wallace said.
At one point, Biden asked, “Would you shut up, man?” in frustration after another Trump interruption.
According to a count conducted by Slate Magazine, “Trump interrupted Biden or debate moderator Chris Wallace at least 128 times. This number dwarfed the 51 times Trump interrupted Hillary Clinton during the first presidential debate in 2016.”
Trump and Biden took the stage in Cleveland with a small, socially-distanced audience due to COVID-19.
The constant interrupting made it difficult to keep up with the six main topics : the Supreme Court, Biden’s and Trump’s records, COVID-19, the economy, race and violence in American cities and the integrity of the election.
Biden said he will accept the results of the Nov. 3 election, but understands that it may take a little longer due to all the mail-in ballots that must be post marked by Election Day.
Trump refused to say he would accept the outcome of the election and claimed that mail-in ballots are a “disaster.” Trump also claimed that the winner may not be known for months after the election. Neither of these claims have been validated. “I am urging my supporters to go into the polls and watch very carefully,” Trump said.
“Once the winner has been declared that will be the end of it,” Biden said in his response. Biden said there is no evidence that mail-in votes cause widespread voter fraud and that the president wants, “to scare people into thinking it’s not going to be a legitimate election.”
Trump defended his decision to nominate a replacement for the late Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg saying it was his right as president and that his power as president should last for the full term.
He also said that his pick for the Supreme Court, 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals Judge Amy Coney Barrett is, “good in every way,” adding she is “as good as anybody that has served on that court.”
Biden responded, “We should wait and see what the outcome of the election is. That’s the only way the American people get to express their views.”
Biden accused Trump of hiding the fact that he knew in February how dangerous COVID-19 was from the American people.
“The president has no plan. He knew it was a deadly disease,” said Biden.
When asked about the value of wearing masks, Trump pulled a mask out of his jacket pocket and said, “I think masks are OK. I put a mask on when I think I need it.”
Asked about the safety of holding his large campaign rallies, Trump said that his rallies have been outdoors, despite holding multiple indoor rallies during the pandemic, starting in June with a rally at a convention center in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Vice President Mike Pence and Senator Kamala Harris will debate in Salt Lake City on Oct. 7.